Family allowance and parental allowance Germany: Parents’ lives in Germany will soon become much easier. On Wednesday, the Bundestag passed a law that will significantly reduce bureaucracy. According to “Bild”, there is a chance that the new regulations will come into force at the turn of the year.
It will be much easier to apply for state child benefits in the future. The law passed on Wednesday by the Bundestag will make it possible to apply for a birth certificate, parental benefit and child benefit online at the same time.
“After all, applying for Child Benefit will be as easy as online banking or online shopping,” said Dorothee Bär (CSU), Minister of State for Digital Affairs. If the new law is adopted by the Bundesrat, the new regulations will come into force at the turn of the year, informs “Bild”.
The reform provides for the linking of services and electronic data exchange between different offices. Data on the birth of a child and income achieved by parents are to be provided automatically, which will significantly shorten the waiting time for granting the benefit.
Applying for family benefits in many federal states is time-consuming and complicated
If you live in Germany, you know how time-consuming it can be to apply for child or parental benefit. Additionally, there are no uniform rules for shipping them. In some federal states it can be done online, in others it cannot.
The birth of a child must be reported to the registry office, which then issues a birth certificate, which must then be attached to the application for parental benefit. Unnecessary bureaucracy and a waste of time that the German parliament finally intends to put an end to.
Electronic data exchange, i.e. ending endless paperwork
The new law provides that all institutions responsible for granting child benefit and child benefit will have access to the personal data of family members and information about parents’ income. This means that you will no longer need to attach any documents when applying for the benefit.
Let us recall that the Kindergeld child benefit will increase by EUR 15 per child from January 1, 2021 , while the tax-free amount for having children, i.e. Kinderfreibetrag, will increase by EUR 570.
Kindergeld rates in 2021 will be:
- for the first and second child – EUR 219 each,
- for the third child – EUR 225,
- for the fourth and each subsequent child – EUR 250.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the coronavirus crisis, the German government changed the rules for granting Elterngled childcare allowance this year .
The Federal Ministry for Family, Elderly, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend- BMFSFJ) has published the most important information on the applicable payment conditions in the form of questions and answers. The guide is available HERE .
Source: Bild , PolskiObserwator.de